PIG Week 9 Session 1 Intervals

Still slugging it out with the 3 x 10 minute, 5 minute recovery sets. Struggled through rep 1 but I made it. Broke cadence on rep 2 and 3 at the 5 minute mark, recovered for 1 minute and then finished strong. Tough set.

The skiing legs responded pretty well. The calves are still a little sore from Sunday but the quads are feeling good.

PIG Week 8

Week 8 was another tough week especially with Thanksgiving, an allergic reaction and a flu shot. It's a wonder I finished the week. One more hard week and then time for a recovery week which can't come too soon.

PIG Week 8 Session 2 Tempo

My head feels like I was drinking all night which would be fine if I had been but I wasn't. I think I got a little cross contaminated food with my allergen last night. The sinus were stuffed and sleep was lousy. It almost kept me from doing this morning's workout.

45 minutes tempo at 221 watts. To think 8 week ago I could barely hold 224 watts for 30 minutes. Today I averaged 226 watts, stuffed head and all.

PIG Week 7

I just finished the last required workout of week 7 and I'm glad this week is over. The interval set was a disaster and my legs never had a chance to rest after that. It might have been easier if I hadn't done the interval set again but I didn't want to leave the set undone.

Now it's time for some rest so that I can get back on track with week 8.

PIG Week 7 Session 1 Intervals The Sequel

Tuesday was definitely not my day, the workout kicked my butt. So what am I supposed to do? Get tough, dig deep and do it again. I'm not going to let some little interval set beat me. Eat half a pizza for dinner, get a good night's sleep and get back on the saddle.

I know the workout plan says don't do back to back hard workouts but that's what I'm doing. That workout is going down.

After an hour, that interval workout is done.

PIG Week 7 Session 2 Tempo

What a difference a day makes! Yesterday's workout was a disaster. I just couldn't hold the power output for ten minutes. Who could know that ten minutes could be so long.

Today was completely different, a fifty minute tempo workout. I just picked out a course, 70.3 California, set the power on cruise control and just let it flow. Maybe it was the breakfast that I had for dinner last night, scrambled eggs, bacon and hash browns. It probably had a lot more calories than Monday night's dinner.

PIG Week 7 Session 1 Intervals

Ouch, this set kicked my butt.  It was supposed to be 3 x 10 minutes @ 255 watts. The first rep felt pretty good, hard but I still felt good. Half way through rep 2, the bottom fell out. The brutal thing about coaching mode on the computrainer is that the computer adjust the resistance no matter how much you are suffering. You can't drop the wattage. It's like riding up a hill and bonking. The hill is still there but your going backwards.

Maybe I should eat more than just grilled cheese and tomato soup?

PIG Week 6 Session 2 Tempo

Six weeks ago, I did the CP30 test and averaged 224 watts for thirty minutes. I just finished the first tempo workout of week six, forty-five minutes, average watts 220. If you had told me at the start that I would be holding 220 for forty-five, I would have thought that impossible.

I can't wait to see what week nineteen holds.

PIG Week 6 Session 1 Intervals

I've decided that no matter how hard you thought the last session was, the new session is even harder. After completing the first four interval sessions, I thought I had it down and then I had the next interval session after the second CP30 test.

I don't know if it was the resetting the level but the 3 - 10 minute intervals were brutal. The third one was really tough and I could definitely feel the effects from the first two.

I can't wait for next week's interval session.

Critical Power Test 2

I just finished the test at the end of week 5. It's actually my second attempt at the test. I tried the test on Friday but my stomach wasn't happy and my head wasn't in it. I also think I hammered too hard too soon. By minute twelve, I knew I was going to crash and fade of the last half.

This morning went much better. I made sure I had a good warm up, fifteen minutes, and started nice and moderate, building all the way through. The average for thirty minutes was 246 watts which is up from 224 watts for the first test. That's a 9.8% improvement in just five weeks. The guarantee is that you will improve by 10% but they don't say if that is wattage based or miles per hour.

If I can continue on this improvement rate, I might just make 300 watts by the last test.